PITTSBURGH — Having played in the National League East for three years, Juan Pierre learned long ago the Phillies' style of play.

So when he signed a minor league deal with the club during the offseason, the man who led the American League in bunt hits (19) in 2011, had doubts as to whether or not he'd fit in with Charlie Manuel's crew.

"I think most people want to see the long ball," Pierre said. "The small ball thing is something that's fading out of the game.

"My thing is trying to put pressure on the defense. If I get on base, [I try] to make the defense as uncomfortable as possible and the pitcher as uncomfortable as possible."

Maybe four years ago that approach wouldn't have been what Manuel was searching for. But it's a new era in Philadelphia, and Pierre may be just the type of player Manuel needs for the 2012 Phillies, who open the season at 1:35 p.m. today against the Pirates at PNC Park in Pittsburgh.

Pierre is all about taking pitches, putting the ball in play, making things happen on the bases and laying down a bunt when it's least expected.

"I think in some ways he might be right, but in my way of looking at our team, he might be dead wrong because I like the guy who gets on base and I like the guy who gets a lot of hits and I like the guy that can steal a base and I like the guy who can go first to third and second to home," Manuel said before the team's evening workout at PNC Park.

Pierre, 34, wreaked havoc for years against the Phillies. In 98 career games, he hit .310 (121-for-390) with 17 doubles (second most against any club) and 40 stolen bases (third most against any team).

Manuel won't commit to just how often he plans to use Pierre, although he did say he would start "a lot of games". He wouldn't confirm if he is in his Opening Day lineup but Manuel is obviously high on him. He raves about his work ethic and personality and talks about how he's enjoyed watching him play since he made his major league debut.

"If we've got guys in our lineup, and we have a hard time getting them from first to third or second to home, especially with two outs, that's definitely not good," Manuel said. "Sometimes in the past we've definitely had that. I'm not talking about one, I'm talking about quite a few [years]."

Blanton might not wait

Although the Phillies don't need a fifth starter until April 15, it doesn't sound like they'll make Joe Blanton wait that long to join the rotation.

"Right now we're thinking about starting him a little earlier than we anticipated because it gets our pitching set up the way we want it," Manuel said.

Blanton is expected to be available out of the bullpen for at least the first three games in Pittsburgh. The Phillies' home opener is Monday, a game Cole Hamels will start. Blanton's sure of his status for that series, but he said there's been talk of him starting April 12, the last game of the Marlins series.

That's a decision he would welcome.

"That's a long time [to wait until April 15]," said Blanton, who started Wednesday's exhibition against the Pirates at Citizens Bank Park. "That's probably, what?, two weeks between starts, and that's a long time."

Stutes avoids disabled list

It was a close call for Mike Stutes.

The 25-year-old threw 20 pitches to five hitters in an intrasquad game Tuesday and felt no discomfort. That, along with an evaluation by Joe Jordan, the director of player development, persuaded management not to start Stutes on the disabled list. Shoulder stiffness had kept him off a mound for about a week in Clearwater.

"I wasn't really going into it with a whole lot of expectations," the right-hander said. "If it feels good, it feels good. If it doesn't, it doesn't. There's nothing I could really do other than try to turn it loose and see what happens.

"It was kind of a freak thing where my shoulder was sore and it was the time of the year where we had the time to address it instead of just trying to push through it. If it was in the middle of the season, you guys probably would have never heard about it. I probably would have just pushed right through it and taken some more Advil and keep throwing."

Stutes joked that there were four people watching the game, and he couldn't remember the last time there were that few people watching a game in which he pitched.

"I was pretty well represented in Little League," Stutes said. "My parents usually came, so I usually had more than four."

Stutes said he will be available today and making back-to-back appearances shouldn't be a problem.

NOTES: Roy Halladay will be making his 10th Opening Day start. … This will be the first Opening Day since 2005 when neither Chase Utley nor Ryan Howard will be in lineup. … Game 2 of the series is at 7:05 p.m. Saturday.